


Candescent Castle

by jay_me_says



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Gen, Karl Jacobs-centric, Time Travelling Karl Jacobs, Web Series: Tales from the SMP, i speedran writing this as soon as the stream was over yesterday, too soon?, yes beta we die like james
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29212086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jay_me_says/pseuds/jay_me_says
Summary: A short story about Karl exploring the inbetween after the Masquerade! Had a lot of fun writing this :)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 35





	Candescent Castle

Karl wakes in an unfamiliar place with a strange hoodie, a quickly fading pain in his chest that aches like a sword wound, and confusion clouding his thoughts. 

_Where am I?_

The brightness of this place is almost blinding but somehow gentle and welcoming. The glow that seems to emanate from everywhere and nowhere at once is soothing. It reaches out to him, seeping into his skin, illuminating every detail of his silhouette. _You are safe here_ , it says.

He believes it. 

There’s a small table in front of Karl. On top of it sits the only speck of darkness in the high-ceilinged hall; a black rose sitting snugly in a pot. It looks as dark and deep as a night sky, starkly contrasting the rest of the room. The white glow picks out soft highlights on its petals. 

Karl stares at it for a little while, curiosity blending with the confusion in his head. Cautiously, he skirts around the rose’s table and continues walking. Although he doesn’t recognize this place, it seems familiar- like he’s been here before. He can’t quite put his finger on it. 

His shoes make soft noises on the glass floor. In the empty space, the footsteps should echo. But the light muffles it, stops the noise short. It might be eerie if the place weren’t so calming. The time traveler couldn’t put it into words with a crossbow against his brow, but the glowing walls almost seem friendly in a way. 

Karl walks up a short staircase at the end of the hall. It leads to a giant doorway with a pretty, detailed frame. On the ground before the doorway sits a book. Karl stoops to pick it up. As he tilts the russet-colored front cover in the light, it sheens in shades of purple and blue. Written in black across the cover are the words ‘The Inbetween.’ 

With a calm and steady hand, Karl opens the cover. 

_Page 1 of 5_

_This is the inbetween._

_Page 2 of 5_

_A world youve been to  
a few times now. _

_Its time to comprehend  
more of what is  
happening to you,  
Karl._

_Page 3 of 5_

_The inebtween acts as  
your gateway for  
travelling in time. It  
isn’t a dimension you’re  
familiar with, but in  
some senses its a  
home away from home._

_Page 4 of 5_

_The key to you  
grasping more of an  
understanding on  
your time travelling  
abilities lay within this  
gorgeous castle you  
will soon get to  
traverse._

_Page 5 of 5_

_Fear not, this is not a  
place to provoke  
harm, but a place to  
feel at ease. _

Karl feels like he has even more questions now than he did before. For instance, who wrote this book? How did he get here? Why doesn’t he remember being here before?

Past the doorway, he takes a right turn into a hallway and walks down a set of stairs. It all looks so beautiful- finely detailed and glowing with light. Karl feels a warmth settling inside him, but when his fingers brush his other hand to pick idly at a nail, his skin feels icy cold. 

At another intersection of hallways, Karl turns left. He catches sight of the outside through archways in the new corridor. It’s gorgeous. The sun is setting somewhere, its descent obscured by the candescent castle. It casts the clouds a clementine color and paints part of the sky purple to match the blue. 

The hallway opens out into a magnificent courtyard. In the middle of it is a rectangle of green ground on a raised platform. The grass is boxed in by a quartz outline, and there’s a stout white pillar on each of the four corners. A swing set stands near the center, in front of a birch tree. Or at least, Karl thinks it’s a birch tree. It has no leaves, only wisps of white that are somewhere between mist and cloud where the leaves should be. Little arms snake off here and there and curl around in the air. Karl can almost imagine that they are lazily reaching for something. The sunset paints sections of the shifting cloud gold. 

From where he’s standing, Karl can see an item frame on the tree’s trunk. Another shining book lies in it, patiently waiting for him.

Karl walks down into the shallow bowl of the courtyard, then steps up onto the grass. He takes the book from the item frame delicately. A wisp of the tree’s “leaves” gently brushes the man’s cheek as he walks around the swing set and sits down to read. 

The title on the cover reads ‘Knowledge 1’

_Page 1 of 4_

_You don’t get to  
choose when you time  
travel or when you  
return, but you  
already know that, and  
that is something that  
will remain true. _

_Page 2 of 4_

_Something that doesn’t  
need to remain true  
however, is your  
body’s deterioration._

_I know that every time  
you time travel, you  
lose more and more  
understanding on who  
you are and this is  
something that you  
can absolutely solve  
in the future. _

_Page 3 of 4_

_I can guarantee if  
you explore this  
castle enough, you will  
one day know what to  
do to stop losing  
yourself and have a  
better control over  
your mind. _

_Page 4 of 4_

_Good luck._

Karl closes the book. He feels like he has no answers to his previous questions, but dozens of others are already popping up, as well as a little bit of desperate hope at the promise the book makes. For a few minutes, the time traveler just sits in the swing, book in his lap, hands lying loosely on top of it. His brow tugs in a little in thought. 

Finally, he gets up and places the book back in its spot on the tree trunk, then takes a final look around the courtyard before walking off. He wants to explore more. Especially after reading that. 

Just out of the courtyard, he finds a spiraling staircase that leads up to one of the castle’s many towers and starts climbing. The staircase winds elegantly around a large quartz pillar that goes up the tower’s middle. Karl feels small compared to the grand castle he’s found himself in. 

When he comes out on the top, the view of the painted sky leaves the man breathless for a moment. He suddenly wishes he could bring his friends here to see this. He wonders what Sapnap and Quackity would think. 

When Karl recovers, he notices another book on the ledge of one of the giant archways. 

He picks it up and looks at the title scrawled across the cover. It says, ‘A Warning.’

Uneasily, Karl opens the book. He begins to read. 

_Page 1of 5_

_I will leave you with  
one clear objective._

_You do not have a  
choice in the matter._

_You will continue to  
time travel, and you  
will continue to  
regroup back here in  
the inbetween._

_Page 2 of 5_

_But_

_You must continue to  
write the stories  
along the way._

_The preservation is  
worth every second  
of your time. These  
stories are important  
to continue to share  
what the world is, and  
who you are._

_Page 3 of 5_

_More important than  
each story individually  
is the library itself._

_Next time you’re back  
to your library, you  
need to move it._

_Find a peaceful land  
and start fresh. Try  
to get everyone to  
join you that will…_

_But…_

_Page 4 of 5_

_Dont let anyone know  
about where these  
stories really come  
from…_

_Dont let anyone know  
about what the  
inbetween is…_

_And_

_Dont let any harm  
come upon your  
library…_

_Page 5 of 5_

_Til next time_

_Enjoy yourself_

_I hope to see you  
back here soon._

Karl puts the book back and tucks unsteady hands into his hoodie pocket. The time traveler turns in a half-circle to face the opposite side of the tower. He walks closer to the open archway and takes in the sight of the castle before him. Surrounded by the colors of the sky, it looks like a blank section of canvas.

An ounce of frustration finally breaks through the calm this place- the inbetween- brings him. He knows no more now than he did when he arrived in that first hall minutes ago. Or was it hours? How long has he been here? 

Suddenly, Karl feels sleepy. The glow of the inbetween reaches out to him. _Rest now. You are safe here_ , it says. 

He stumbles to the edge of the tower and puts his hands on the windowsill, leaning his weight against it. He fights the sleep for a single second, then gives in and lets it cloud his mind. His eyelids drop shut with an air of finality and the white glow of the inbetween is cut off by a sudden curtain of black.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! Considering adding to this a little bit with a second part. Let me know if that would interest you :D


End file.
